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Blake Griffin and Reggie Jackson of the Detroit Pistons are both dealing with injuries in the preseason. While this could be a cause for concern heading into the 2019-20 NBA season, Pistons head coach Dwane Casey does not believe their respective ailments will linger into the regular season, per James Edwards III of The Athletic.
Dwane Casey said he doesn’t expect Blake Griffin (hamstring) and Reggie Jackson (back) to have injuries that linger into the regular season.
— James L. Edwards III (@JLEdwardsIII) October 18, 2019
Griffin is currently nursing a sore hamstring. The Pistons chose to err on the side of caution for their All-Star forward as they held him out for the final three games of Detroit's preseason schedule. Griffin reportedly did not travel with the team in their preseason finale against the Charlotte Hornets.
Jackson, on the other hand, has reportedly been battling a back issue. Like Griffin, the Pistons also held him out for the preseason closer against Charlotte. It is still uncertain whether the 29-year old point guard will be ready when Detroit opens its campaign against the Indiana Pacers next Wednesday.
The Pistons look to make a jump this season after overachieving in 2018-19. Griffin had a bounce-back season in 2018-19 and had arguably the best individual season of his career.
The former no. 1 overall pick averaged a career-high in points with 24.5 PPG to go along with 7.5 RPG and 5.4 APG. Once known as one of the fiercest dunkers in the league, Griffin totally revamped his game to adapt to the fast-evolving perimeter-oriented style of play in the NBA. The 6-foot-10 big man averaged 2.5 conversions from beyond the arc and made a total of 189 three-pointers on 522 attempts.
Jackson played a full season for the first time in his career in 2018-19. That was his first healthy season since the 2015-16 season, where he played 79 games. In 2018-19, Jackson averaged a pedestrian 15.4 PPG and 4.2 APG to go along with his typically inefficient shooting clip of 42.1 percent from the field.
The Pistons will need both of them, especially Griffin, to be healthy for them to make another postseason appearance in 2019-20.
